


A Love Triangle Is A Trope Based In Truth

by bmcbapej



Series: Bemily Week (2018) [3]
Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Bemily Week, Day 3, F/F, Love Triangles, Unhappy Ending, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2019-03-30 22:13:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13961115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bmcbapej/pseuds/bmcbapej
Summary: Beca’s general distaste for movies isn’t exactly a secret in the entertainment industry, so she has no idea why she’s been sought out to score one – especially one that requires her to be on set so often.





	A Love Triangle Is A Trope Based In Truth

**Author's Note:**

> Truthfully not my best work but it's too late to start a new one.
> 
> Day 3: Beca/Emily/Chloe Love Triangle

When her best friend Jesse had told her that his budding-director girlfriend had managed to secure funding for her very own movie, Beca didn’t think too much about it. They’re not particularly close but she’s met Aubrey on a few occasions and despite their clashing personalities, music is something they both really level with. She expects to be forced to attend the premiere and maybe offer critiques on some of Jesse’s film scores but that’s it. Boy was she wrong.

It turns out Aubrey is dead set on making sure there were as many capable women involved both in-front of and behind the camera as possible. It’s something Beca can admire considering sexism is still a problem in both their industries. She experiences it a lot less now that she’s an established figure, but it still makes her angry to remember all the times she was ignored or confused for a secretary when she was first starting out as a producer.

While discussing Aubrey’s vision for the film during a lunch get together between them and Jesse, Beca can’t help herself from zoning out a little as Aubrey starts listing facts and statistics about the gender disparity in film-making. It’s definitely important but Beca knows she’s not going to actually retain any of these numbers – it’s the same thing that happens during her meetings about album sales and song streams. It’s not until the very end of Aubrey’s mini-lecture that Beca finally realises why she’s been asked to catch up with the couple.

“And only 2% of the 250 top-grossing in the past few years were scored by women. It’s an absolute travesty!” Beca attempts to nonchalantly continue chewing her burger in the hope that the blonde will change topics. It doesn’t work. “Which is why I want you to do the score for my movie.”

Years of PR training and the fact that she actually respects Aubrey is the only thing preventing her from aggressively declining. “Wouldn’t it make sense to hire a woman actually interested in composing for films? If there are so few openings for them, why would you want me of all people to take one away from them?”

“Believe me, I’ve thought about it. I’ve even made several lists of pros and cons I can email you later.” Oh god, homework. “But at the end of the day, I want this film to reach its maximum potential and I really think you’d be the perfect fit for it musically speaking.”

“How would you even know that? I’ve never done anything like this before!”

“I’ve seen you working with Jesse when he’s stuck. Your sound is in line with the tone I’m aiming for and your songs work really well with those music videos.”

“The music video is designed to fit the song, not the other way around!”

Jesse, who had been quiet for most of the discussion eventually pipes up, “Come on Becs, just give it a shot. If you really hate it, I’m sure ‘Bree can find someone else but at least give it a try. I know for a fact your upcoming schedule is unusually free so it shouldn’t be a problem with your label.”

Beca sends a half-hearted glare at her college friend. Her schedule had been free because she wanted to take a break and rediscover her sound, not foray into the film industry. It’s a testament to how far she’s grown since her high-school brooding self that she caves.

“Alright, send me the script.” Jesse does a little jig in his seat and Aubrey visibly relaxes. “You both owe me big time though.”

* * *

 The script isn’t the worst thing she’s read (she’d never be caught dead admitting she might have cried at the ending). It’s different and even a little funny (though she’s still confused over why one of the writers has signed off as Fat Amy). It’s completely original and neither an adaptation or a sequel, which she’s told is a rarity in the current cinema climate. The importance of the soundtrack is evident early on as her presence is requested on the set to “get a feel for the vibe” and also to interact with the cast. She has her own trailer for some reason (that she just _knows_ Jesse is going to barge in on unannounced) and Aubrey’s somehow arranged for recording and mixing equipment to be included (it’s not as comprehensive as her studio but it’s enough for her to do the bulk of her work). All-in-all it’s starting to feel like a paid work-vacation.

The other cast and crew members were excited to have her on board, including the two female leads. Chloe Beale and Emily Junk were both up-and-coming actresses that critics had their eye on. The three of them hit it off from day one (which is surprising considering how different Beca is from the other two). They initially bond over their shared love of music (Emily has also expressed interest in possibly branching out further than just musical movies) and before she knows it, they’re spending just as much time off-set as they are on it.

It’s not until a night alone where she's halfway through binge-watching a television shows that Emily’s appeared on that she has an inkling that she might have a teensy-tiny problem. The black Netflix screen asking her if she’s still watching is the perfect surface to see her dishevelled 3am reflection. _Fuck, I think I like her._

Beca would like to say that everything continued as per usual, but that would be the biggest lie since that time Amy had said she knew nothing about the empty refreshments table. Even if she had had a bigger desire to participate in film, she would never have the acting chops to be in front of the camera. Throwing herself into her work, she’s producing some of the best angsty content she’s done in a while but that doesn’t stop her colleagues from expressing concern about her new hermit-like tendencies.

Everyone’s stopped by at least once, but she brushes them all off, claiming to be “in-the-zone” and needing to “catch her inspiration before it leaves”. It sounds disgustingly cliché as it comes out of her mouth, but it works as an explanation. The only people who don’t buy it are, of course, Chloe and Emily (Jesse would also probably call her on her bullshit but he’s currently out in France on some contract work). Their frequent visits to check in on her are doing nothing to appease her feelings.

(“What do you mean all your water comes from your food?”

“You can’t spend your whole life inside a tin can, vitamin D deficiency is a serious issue!”)

If pushing people away wasn’t going to work, she’ll just push these feelings down. After all, straight girl crushes never end well.

* * *

 Everything starts to come to a head when she’s demoing a rough instrumental for Cynthia-Rose, one of the editors. It’s the first draft of it so she expects some tweaking will be necessary but is a little uneasy when the other girl narrows her eyes as the scene plays with the proposed backing track.

“Uhh, if you don’t like it I can try something completely different.”

“No-no. I like it, it actually fits surprisingly well.” She’s slightly offended now.

“Thank…you?”

“Oh, I’m not surprised that you made something that works, it’s just… Doesn’t this whole scene feel a bit romantic to you?” Beca stills. Re-analysing the scene playing on loop in front of them, her heart beats a little faster once she realizes the truth. It’s supposed to be an emotional scene where Emily and Chloe’s characters are consoling each other after the death of a friend, and whilst Beca’s instrumental was undeniably sad, there was just a hint of something else in there.

“Huh, funny that.”

“This could work. You know I was a bit skeptical when Aubrey said she wanted a composer this early on in production on set, but I have no qualms being proven wrong right now.” Before Beca can ask anything, Cynthia-Rose flags down Aubrey and bluntly says, “I want you to get them to kiss.”

Filming stops for the rest of that day and the cast is allowed to leave early. Every single writer is called in to discuss the next step. She catches the tail-end of Aubrey aggressively arguing with what she assumes is a studio executive and Beca’s not sure if Aubrey wants to kill her or hug her. Both options are equally as terrifying.

There’s a gleam in the blonde’s eye that makes Beca feel like she’s about to sent off to war. “I want to personally hear every single track you’ve started for this movie.” It was going to be a long day.

* * *

 “How do you kiss a girl?” is the question that makes Beca almost choke on her noodles. Emily and Chloe have both been doing a read-through of the new script inside Beca’s trailer. It’s the smallest one between the three of them, but the only one with proper audio equipment. They had both insisted on preparing for their new scenes with some of Beca’s proposed music in the background. Chloe is outside getting them all some water which leaves Beca as the sole person available to field Emily’s question.

“Uhh, I assume it’d be like kissing a guy only you do it with a girl?” Beca has no idea what it’s like to properly kiss a man. She knew pretty early on in her schooling that she was exclusively into girls and the only time she’d locked lips with a male was that one time her and Jesse had drunkenly accepted a dare (that probably shouldn’t count as a real kiss because if every straight couple kissed like that the human race was doomed).

“But what if I do it wrong and it’s not believable? I don’t want it to look like we’re just pandering to some teenage boys.” Emily takes her craft very seriously and is always quick to apologize whenever she stuffs up a take, so having to learn a whole new set of lines at the last minute must be stressing her out.

“Then they’ll just cut it out, no big deal. You can tell the crew really cares about the movie, so they won’t just leave in anything that doesn’t look right. For what it’s worth I think you’ll do fine.” She bites back a _‘I can help you rehearse if you want’_ and is relieved when Chloe finally returns.

“Here you go!” Beca’s pretty sure she’s drunken more water on set than she has at any other point in her life. “Sorry I took so long, my boyfriend called.”

Beca’s surprised jerk at Chloe’s statement goes unnoticed due to Emily’s loud gasp. They both turn to look at her with interest. “Uhh, I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.” You could say that again. Chloe hadn’t mentioned him at all during the past few months. “Is he okay with the whole kissing thing?”

“Totes! Chicago knows it’s just acting. Haven’t I mentioned him before? He’s in the army and deployed right now, I’ll show you some photos!”

Beca excuses herself to go to the bathroom, it’s a dreadful side effect of her increased water intake.

* * *

 Emily’s fears of not being able to convey an authentic portrayal are completely unfounded. Beca doesn’t have a lot of material to use as reference, but she’s sure that both actresses deserve an Oscar or something. She’s forced to watch the footage of their interactions over and over in order to adequately time her scores, but repeated viewing doesn’t dull the churn in her stomach. Beca’s been happily single for most of her life but nowadays she can’t help but yearn for something more.

* * *

 “You hate it.”

“I don’t hate it, necessarily. I just don’t think it’s up to par with the rest of your work. Look, the stuff you showed us last week with the restaurant scene was great – it made me want to drown myself in a bed of tissues. This scene here though is supposed to be happy, but the music makes me feel like when they cut the cake it’s going to start screaming that they all have cancer.” That sounded an awful lot like Jessica hated it.

“Gotcha. I’ll try something else. Thanks for the feedback.” Jessica offers a sympathetic look as they part, but Beca just doesn’t have the energy to acknowledge it.

Ordinarily, she would hole herself back up inside her trailer and go back to work but for once she’s simply not in the mood to make music. Deciding to just let her feet lead her wherever, she ends up at the edge of the fake ocean they had installed for last week’s filming. They didn’t need it anymore, but nobody has had time to dismantle it (she also has suspicions that a few of the crew members have just been using it as a swimming pool).

She stands there for a while, losing track of time, before the crunch of gravel warns her of an approach by someone in the distance. Tensing a little upon realising it’s Emily, Beca’s weariness gives way to concern once she sees the faraway look on the taller girl’s face.

“You, good?” She inwardly cringes a little at how awkward the question sounds.

“I’m fine.” They stand in silence for a few minutes, watching the drifting water in front of them. Emily takes a deep breath before asking, “You’re experienced, right?”

“If that’s your way of calling me old…”

“No! That’s not it, I- I need some advice.” Nobody’s gone to Beca for advice since the time Jesse hadn’t known what to wear on his first date (it was a disaster anyway, Beca’s choices didn’t align with Aubrey’s preferences but Jesse’s humor had brought the older girl back around for a second date).

“Not sure how well I can help you, but what’s the matter?”

“How do you stop yourself from falling for someone.” Beca could almost taste the irony right now. She 90% sure that Emily’s referring to Benji, the stage manager.

“Yeah, I can’t help you there, kiddo. Just hope it goes away?” Emily didn’t look impressed at all. “They might like you back, so you could try going for it.”

“And if they certainly don’t?”

“You can run away from people but not feelings so just ride it out I guess.”

“I was hoping that wouldn’t be the case.”

“There’s no magic potion out there to help people deal with problems.” Beca paused in thought. “If there was such a thing, movies would be a heck of a lot shorter.”

Beca wants to know more but also understands that you shouldn’t pry about some things. Emily offers up an opening regardless, “Can you keep a secret?”

“Well I haven’t leaked the script yet, so I think I can be trusted.”

“IthinkIkindamightlikeChloe.” As her brain caught up with Emily’s rushed words, it promptly short-circuited.

“What?!”

“I think I might have a thing for Chloe.” Beca is completely and utterly floored. “At first I thought it was just us getting along really well. I mean we have so much fun when it’s the three of us! But then when you were going through your broody phase we spent a lot of time together, just the two of us, and then when you came out of your funk everything felt different. I wasn’t sure if it was just you distancing yourself from us… but then everything happened with the new script and we started rehearsing and shooting those scenes… The acting stopped becoming acting and I don’t even know where my character ends and I begin anymore.”

A million things are going through Beca’s mind right now, but she can’t seem to grasp any of them completely. Emily slumps forward and engulfs Beca in a hug. “Everything hurts and I don’t know what to do.”

It turns out that just because straight girl crushes never end well, it doesn’t mean that a gay (or bi) girl crushes will be any better.

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to happily end in bechemily since I wanted to save angst for angst day, but then the characters refused to do what I wanted them to :(


End file.
